All Are Welcome
St. Gertrude Parish in Chicago
Our parish strives to be a community, growing in faith, that welcomes all and brings Christ’s love to others.
Our parish strives to be a community, growing in faith, that welcomes all and brings Christ’s love to others.
The Rectory office is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am-2:30 pm.
Every Sunday at 10:30 am, we live-stream Mass from St. Gertrude Church using Facebook Live. Please click HERE to be connected to our parish Facebook page. After Mass, we upload the video to our YouTube channel. You do not need a Facebook account to watch Mass on Facebook Live.
On Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, we will host a food and supply drive for Care for Real to help asylum seekers. Items needed for migrants include:
Thank you for helping our neighbors in need!
There will be a parish meeting from 11:30 am-12:30 pm (following the 10:30 am mass) in church, all are invited. The meeting is to discuss the transfer of Fr. Paul Adaja and the termination of Kathryn Flynn.
St. Gertrude Women's Friendship Club meets monthly on the second Thursday of every month in the Ministry Center. The gathering begins at 11:30 am, attendees should bring their own (brown bag) lunch.
Dessert is provided!
First Communion celebration is approaching! On Friday, May 10, there will be a First Communion practice at 6:30 pm. Please be on time.
Our parish's First Communion Mass is Saturday, May 11 at 10:00 am. No photos are allowed before and/or during mass, but rather after the service.
On Sunday, May 12, there is a May Crowning celebrated at the 10:30 am mass in church. All communicants should participate in the Crowning of Blessed Mary in their First Communion finery.
First Communion Attire
The attire for First Communion is simple, age appropriate, and should not distract from the focus of receiving the Sacrament.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
May is a month to remember and celebrate the mothers and mother figures in our lives. These women on whom all generations depend-are essential to the fullness of God's plan for human life.
May is also the month when we celebrate the important work of our Catholic Charities. Helping mothers in need is core to our Catholic faith and a cornerstone mission for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Whether they be single mothers, mothers of children with special needs, foster mothers, or mothers who are migrants, we help them and their children.
Your generous donation to the Mother's Day Collection for Catholic Charities enables this urgent work. Catholic Charities was founded more than a century ago by the Archdiocese to help those in need in Cook and Lake counties. As the largest provider of human services in our region, Catholic Charities serves nearly 400,000 people annually. This tremendous reach of services is only possible through your generous support.
Each year I call on our parishes to support Catholic Charities, and so I encourage you to be generous by contributing, either:
Thank you for your on-going support and partnership. May Mary, our Mother whom we honor in May, continue to inspire us to take up the mission of her Son with joyful enthusiasm.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago
Please join the book club in the Ministry Center on Monday, May 13 at 7:00 pm. We will discuss The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, and we would love new voices and opinions.
On Monday, June 10, our group will talk about Deacon King Kong by James McBride.
There are many copies of both books available at the Chicago Public Library.
Contact Lea Cloninger at 773.973.2465 or Sue Benjamin at 773.551.8401 with questions.
The parish youth group has two upcoming events: a car wash and a hot dog sale. All proceeds will go towards youth group activities.
The car wash is planned for Saturday, May 18. Teens will be available to wash cars from 10:00 am-1:00 pm in the parish parking lot. The cost is $15 per vehicle.
The Edgewater Yard and Sidewalk Sale is Saturday, June 1 from 9:00 am-5:00 pm. Our parish youth group will sell pop and hot dogs to attendees in the parish parking lot from 10:00 am-2:00 pm.
If your teen in grades six and up is interested in joining our youth group, please contact Eloy Escamilla at eescamilla@stgertrudechicago.org.
Wildcat Camp strives to provide a safe, engaging experience with a variety of recreational, educational, athletic, and fine arts programs at an affordable price!
Join us for:
Register at https://bit.ly/49CGPmH.
If you are sixth grade through high school, you are invited to take part in St. Gertrude's Youth Mission Experience! Planned for the week of July 22-26, the group will volunteer with a different Chicagoland organization each day.
There is a $100 fee for the week. A $50 deposit is required at the time of registration. Please note that there are scholarships available!
All participants will receive a t-shirt, water bottle, and a sports drawstring backpack.
To reserve a spot or to get more information, contact Eloy Escamilla at eescamilla@stgertrudechicago.org.
All are welcome to attend the weekly Rosary group held on Friday evenings at 7:00 pm.
The bilingual gathering is held in the dining room of the Ministry Center, located at 6214 North Glenwood Avenue.
The Lending Closet is in the midst of SPRING SHARING! Volunteers are needed to help pack and label boxes of medical supplies that we are sharing with Project C.U.R.E. (which ships supplies to clinics in need worldwide).
PLEASE e-mail or call the Lending Closet manager Laurie Hasbrook at lhasbrook@stgertrudechicago.org or 773-973-5464 ext. 115 if you can volunteer for hour or two.
The Mass Intentions book for 2025 is now open.
If you would like a Mass Intention said for a person that needs prayers or in memory of someone who has died, please stop by the Rectory office at 1420 West Granville Avenue during office hours. We’ll help you find an available Mass and prepare a card for you to give to the person or family of the intention.
A $20 donation is suggested.
Thank you to all who attended our services during Holy Week and on Easter both in-person and online! What a joy it was to get together and celebrate God’s unending love for us.
The past few weeks have required extra time and energy from so many of our volunteers in order to rehearse and then serve at all the services of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter! Thank you to all of our wonderful and generous cantors, our choir, musicians, and corps of liturgical ministers. They did a magnificent job!
Great churches don't just happen; they are created and nurtured by active, engaged, and generous parishioners. We appreciate you sharing your time at Church, your talents and helping hands at Mass and parish events, your stewardship, and your prayers. We are grateful to have you as part of our St. Gertrude family!
Special thanks to Maria Ugarte and Laurie Hasbrook for the all of the amazing photos from church.
I know you are all wondering how Miguel, Angie, and their kids are doing.
We are so grateful for all your support and prayers. As some of you may have known, Angie's sister, her husband and two kids were in a different shelter. We've been working to reunite the families and the great news is that we've been successful in doing so. This will help everyone, as the kids will have more support to overcome the stress and trauma of this move, and the adults can now share child care responsibilities, meaning that all four can work.
We have two requests: Angie needs the services of a dentist. So far we have been unable to find one who will do pro bono work. We are investigating Stroger, but if you know of anything please let me know to forward to Father Mike, or write Father Mike directly. Also, all four adults seek work of any kind.
Next, here is a press release from the City of Chicago: New Shelter Stay Policy, Additional Landing Zone Personnel and New Regulatory Measures
There are a lot of new restrictions and limitations that I'll summarize at the bottom. You can see why it was a blessing we could support an extended family at St. Ignatius, and why so much more needs to be done to ensure that their asylum hearing and various documents are moving along.
I think that's everything for now. Thank you for being a light to the world!
On behalf of the Refugee and Immigrant Ministry committee,
~ Denise Goodman
Some changes to highlight from the City's press release:
St. Francis House is a home offering hospitality in the tradition of the Catholic Worker movement, located in the Uptown neighborhood at 4652 N. Kenmore.
All are welcome to come by for dinner any Monday at 6:00 pm! Curious about this tradition? Read about in the Chicago Catholic at https://rb.gy/10e7pw.
The best way to learn about Northside Catholic Academy and to see if it’s the right fit for your family is to walk through our halls and visit our classrooms. We encourage prospective parents to discover first-hand what makes NCA a Blue Ribbon School. We accept applications up to one year in advance.
Private admissions tours are available by
appointment. Please contact Brad Gschwendtner at bgschwendtner@ncaschools.com or 773.743.6277 with any questions about our admissions process or to schedule a tour.
Last weekend, Lori Dressel and Carol Ann Munro were in church to discuss the benefits of a spiritual director and companion.
If you've been searching for a deeper relationship with God or wanted to seek God’s help in making you might consider meeting with a spiritual director/companion.
Carol Ann and Lori offer confidential one-on-one sessions at St. Gertrude and the opportunity to slow down and take time to reflect on your experience of life, God’s action and grace in your daily routines and connect deeply to “the Spirit hidden in the depths of your soul.“ (T. Merton)
In meeting with a spiritual director, a person learns to pay attention to God’s personal communication, to respond to this personally communicating God, to be open to intimacy with God, and to live out the richness of the relationship that results from this intimacy.
If you are interested in this, contact Lori Dressel at lorijdressel@gmail.com or Carol Ann Munro at carolannmunro@comcast.net.
Read This Weekend's Print and E-Bulletin
We send out an e-bulletin of parish news on Thursday afternoons. We also distribute a printed bulletin in church on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. This printed bulletin is a slightly shortened version of our e-bulletin and easier to read. Both versions are available below.
Information for the bulletin must be submitted to stgertbulletin@yahoo.com. Please note, there is a summer schedule, with bulletin every other week. Email us for deadline dates.
10:30 am in church
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